


Toxic

by Gothfoxgirl



Category: The Last of Us, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Anxiety, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Badass Izuku, Dadmic, Dadzawa, Dimension Travel, Fatherly Joel, Infected, Izuku has blood on his hands, M/M, Mamma Midnight, Midoriya Izuku Has Multiple Quirks, Midoriya Izuku Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Strong Midoriya Izuku, but he can't control them to their full extent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 01:11:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20024089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothfoxgirl/pseuds/Gothfoxgirl
Summary: Certain death was glaring him in the face, but...then, he was gone. He dropped into a world he knew nothing about. All he knew was that they spoke English and every day is a fight and struggle for life.A hand reached out for him. One that offered to help him through this world. And he would have been a fool if he hadn't taken it...





	1. Panic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no fucking chill...
> 
> Don't expect fast updates after a couple chapters...after I've ridden out my hype high...

The station was absolutely packed. The train was coming and the greetette was getting ready to get on, when...he slipped. There were cries from the top of the platform, when he felt himself flop onto the tracks. He was stomach down, having scraped his hands against the ground. He hissed and looked up, finding the bullet train coming closer. His heart rate shot up. He wouldn’t be able to make up back up to the platform in time and the railways were too narrow to allot space on either side. He would be crushed! Panic brewed in his chest, getting worse and worse, until he couldn’t move. Then...He felt himself falling. Something invisible seemed to open up beneath him...and he was gone.

While the others tried to figure out where he had warped to, the greenette found himself falling, before he tumbled onto a hard tiled floor. He sat up, dazed as all hell. What…  
“Where...am I?” It looked like a hospital, but it was dark and dusty, like no one had been there for years. He moved closer to the front door, since it seemed like he’s appeared near the reception desk. As he reached the front, his eyes widened drastically. It looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off! Cars were turned upside down and some were left to rot, looking as if they hadn’t been turned on in forever. A billboard loomed to the left, writing, in english, advertising a movie, but...The year on it said 2013.  
“What the...I’m...over five hundred years in the past...but...There was never anything about an apocalypse in out textbooks or the history section in the library…” How long had it been since that sign was changed? Thank hell he took up English over the summer all those years ago. Everything was clear as day. Something had happened and he was thrown into another timeline’s past. Did he...activate a dormant quirk? He closed his green eyes and tried to feel for this new power, but...nothing. Maybe it was something out of his control for the time being. He sighed and decided to try and find his way around, just in case he was stuck here. 

He slipped into a closet and found some clothes that seemed like they would fit him. He came out wearing a pair of long jeans and a long sleeved dark green shirt, a black beanie covering his hair. As of this time period, he was sure, for a fact, that no one had naturally green hair and, if he was right about the time frame, no one would be able to dye their hair this vibrant and not be found by other people. Now...What to do with his bright yellow backpack? He sighed. He would have to ditch it. Why did he pick such a bright color in the first place? Right...All Might. Izuku stood again and glanced out the glass doors of the hospital. There was a clothing store just half a mile down the block. Probably rifled through, already, but he could hope. Stepping into the back of the hospital, he collected as many supplies as he could. Bandages and alcohol, some scissor blades...He even took the fire axe that was laying on the ground. It was broken off the handle, but that would be an easy fix if he-Aha! He found a pipe and bound the axe head to it with some bindings he found. With it secure, he slipped the end into the open zipper of his backpack. A sigh left his mouth and he walked out onto the street.

It was hot, but the clothing store wasn’t too far away. Once he entered...something felt off. Keeping that feeling in mind, he moved around the shop, grabbing a backpack off a shelf and transferring over his supplies. Somehow, he found a pair of steel-toed boots in his size, tucked away in the back. When he came back with his pack and weapon on his back, the feeling got worse. He pulled his makeshift weapon down into his grip, as he made his way to the front desk. There was an open journal on it, which he started to read.  
‘May 12th, 2033. The infection has drained away from this area, but it’s become a haven for raiders and bandits like us…’ It cut off and there were splatters of blood on the page. Green brows furrowed. That blood was fresh. His instincts flared up and he swung his axe behind him, the blunt side hitting the man creeping up on him in the stomach.  
“Fuck! You’ll pay for that, you little shit!” He swung again, but his weapon was knocked from his hands. Pure instinct fueled his movements, as he dodged the fist to the gut, using his smaller stature to aim for the stranger’s groin. His hit connected and the man yelled out in anger, before nailing his foot into the greenette’s stomach. He was sent sprawling, as the man, who was probably insane, straddled his hips and tried to wail on him, but he sat up, smacking his face into the man’s solar plexus. Both were holding the respective parts of their body, in pain. In his daze, Izuku swapped their positions, straddling the man’s chest and pinning his hands with his feet. He punched him straight in the face, blood starting to pour from the raven’s nose and split lip, as he growled at the teenager. He was able to wedge a foot up against Izuku’s stomach and push him off. He rolled onto his stomach, coughing and wiping at his face. The greenette felt opportunity strike him and he did the first thing his mind told him. Getting onto the man’s back, he wrapped his arm under his chin and grabbed his wrist with his other hand, starting to block off his attacker’s windpipe. The man struggled, causing his arm to start weakening. He needed to end this fast. Tensing his arm again, he jerked up and to the side out of instinct, again. A snap was heard and the bandit went limp.

Something cold dripped into his bloodstream. He...He just killed someone. He shook his head, mumbling to himself.  
“It was either him or me...It was either him or me…” He made sure to check his surroundings, unsure if the guy had come alone. When he made sure there was no one around him, inside the building, he took what he needed from the corpse below him. Some supplies and a handgun. It was a Winchester. He recognized it from a book he’d read in the library. The weight was good in his hand and it wasn’t too bulky. Izuku knew how to shoot. His father had taken him to an old school range and taught him how with both one-handed and two-handed guns. He was thanking his dad to the high heavens, right about now...though...he was sure his father was dead. It’d been weeks since his last email or call. He never missed one. Ever. Then, he, suddenly, stops communication. His mom told him he was probably busy, but Izuku had his doubts. In his musings, he took the knives the man had on him, as well. There were two hunting knives and a butterfly knife. A little twitch came to his lip. It was like his own, only older. His dad had sent it for his thirteenth birthday. He flicked it around a little. Needs to be washed. 

As he left the building, he found someone standing in the middle of the road. He looked to be in his late forties, early fifties, and had greying brunette hair. He was broad and husky with muscle that had nearly no defined edges. His pack was brimming with supplies and weapons. He was staring at him with stunned hazel eyes. Izuku aimed his, new, gun at him, still shaking from the adrenaline. The man put his hands up.  
“I’m not with that asshole...He’s been terrorizing this end of town for weeks…” Izuku took a deep breath.  
“But...You might be another bandit…” His voice came out scratchy and with a heavy accent, his English a touch rusty.  
“I can’t say I’m not. But, I don’t try to rob kids...or teens? You look fourteen. What are you doing out all on your own? You look confused.”  
“I…I woke up in the hospital...connected to machines...I don’t know what’s going on or where I am...I just found out it's been twenty years since that movie poster went up...That’s all I know.” The brunette nodded.  
“You’re in Athens, Georgia. It’s May 12, 2033. You probably just woke from a coma...either from a long time ago or your memory went a little fuzzy.” He had a medium strength Texan accent.  
“You sound Japanese...right?” Izuku nodded.  
“Yes. My...My English is a little rusty.”  
“Sounds fine to me. I’m Joel, by the way.” The younger started to drop his weapon, slowly.  
“Izuku…” The brunette was cautious, seeing as the teen had been the one to get rid of the town nuisance.  
“I was on my way to get supplies from the local mart...Since it seems like you just got out of that hospital, you’re probably hungry…” The man seemed to be trying to prove that he wasn’t a threat to the greenette, but knew the weapons on him were telling a different story. It was a sign that he was, truly, not a threat to him.

Izuku sighed and put the gun down, sticking it in the waistband of his jeans.  
“You...truly don’t want to hurt me...You’re correct…” Joel nodded.  
“How did you take down Richard? He usually has goons all around that store.” Izuku grimace.  
“I didn’t see anyone else, but, now that the adrenaline is fading, I believe the book I found was one of his men’s. There was fresh blood on it, so I knew there was someone else there. I believe he killed his own men. He looked...deranged.”  
“But how did you do it?”  
“Instinct. I...I’m probably going to be sore later. I’ve never been extremely fit. I...am, actually, underweight for my age.” He nodded.  
“So...How old are you?”  
“Thirteen.” He looked startled.  
“And you were just left at the hospital?” Izuku sighed and shrugged.  
“Who knows...They might have been chased out by bandits.” Joel muttered.  
“Or the infected…”  
“The _what_?” He sighed.  
“Twenty years ago, there was an infection outbreak...Turned people into the infected. It’s screwed humanity over and shoved us into pockets. A single bite can turn someone, as long as it breaks the skin. There are three types. I hope you never have to deal with the last two stages, but you probably will. There’s stage one. Runners. They still look human, but aren’t. Stage two are Clickers. They’re blind, so they click as a form of echolocation and they’re much more durable. The third stage...The third stage turns them into Bloaters. They’re huge and strong. We try to fight them off from a distance. Molotovs and nail bombs work best instead of bullets. They can, also, throw spore clusters. Those suck to be around.” Izuku hummed to himself.  
“Pretty much zombies...just… _worse_.”  
“Exactly. We’re here. The non perishable items are in the second aisle and the back warehouse.” Izuku nodded.  
“Thank you...You...are a kind man.” He split off, not seeing the look of shock across the older’s face.

He found nothing of value on those shelves and moved to the back. He started moving cans and jars into his backpack, grateful there were things left. He scrambled to the front, as a loud crash and clicking filled his hearing. Joel grabbed his sleeve and pulled him behind a shelf, putting his finger to his lips, a bottle in his other hand. He threw it and the clickers moved towards the sound. The brunette snuck around and attacked one of them from behind, gaining the attention of the others. Izuku went around the other way, hacking his axe into the neck of one of them, cutting off the cervical connection. When he was done with his, he found four surrounding Joel. Thinking of the twenty minutes of kindness the man had given him, he wouldn’t let him die here and now. Not when he was here. Picking up a brick and a glass bottle. He threw the brick at the clicker sneaking up on the Texan and the glass he dropped by his feet.  
“Hey!” The four of them shambled towards him, where he was readying himself with his axe.  
“Kid!”  
“Go!” Joel looked stunned.  
“What?”  
“Go! I’ll meet you at the clothing store! There are more coming!” True to his word, more came out of the other side of the store.  
“GO!” The final sound from the younger made the infected converge on him. The brunette looked agonized, but he ran, leaving the clickers to swarm him. He felt scratches and mutated hands latching onto his body. He sliced and kicked. Punched and shouldered. There was a flash of pain by his side, but he was able to take down the ones around him and ducked behind a display rack. It was ten minutes, before he was able to slip out of the mart. Behind a mailbox, he pulled out some bandages and, without looking, wrapped his midsection, where he knew he was bleeding heavily. 

Carefully, he made his way back to where he’d met Joel, having memorized the way, subconsciously. When he got there, the man looked absolutely stunned to see him.  
“How did you get out of there?” Izuku was covered in infected blood and scratches, but he was alive.  
“Luck...adrenaline, and instinct.”  
“Were you bit?”  
“No. Just beat up. Nothing new...I’m just hungry and I’m so, goddamn, tired.” Joel took a deep breath.  
“Hey, Kid? Hows about you and I stick together? You’ve got excellent instincts for this kinda thing.” It took a moment for Izuku to wrap his head around the proposition.  
“I...I guess that would be good. I have no idea where to go from here, anyways, so...sure.” 

For the night, they bunkered down in the store. With Joel off elsewhere, Izuku took this time to tend to his wounds. When he lifted the bandages from his side, he felt a chill sweep across the heated and agitated flesh. When he looked down, he blanched, his skin going cold and clammy.

Sat in his flesh...was a bite mark.


	2. Cargo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sleep? What is sleep?

You want us to do what?”  
“Please. It’s just out of town. You’re the most qualified.” A darker skinned woman leaned against the table, injured around her stomach.  
“Marlene-”  
“I know, Ellie. They’re the best to take you.” Joel groaned and turned towards the door.  
“Kid!” Both the girl and Marlene looked startled.  
“Wh-” The door opened and in stepped a boy, about Ellie’s age. He tipped back a flask, before screwing the lid back on and sticking it in his jacket pocket.  
“Sup?”  
“This is our cargo.” He nodded and gave a little nod, sticking his hand out.  
“Izuku.” She shook his hand.  
“Ellie.” He nodded again and, at a look from his friend, lead her over to a corner, where the adults wouldn’t hear them.  
“So...We’re smuggling you out of the city?” She looked nervous.  
“Yeah…”  
“They can be intimidating when they want to, but...They’re just softies on the inside...Don’t tell Joel I said that.” She looked hesitant.  
“Are...Are you their…” He gave a startled laugh.  
“No. I’m not. Joel found me outside a clothing store about four months back. My first kill. I’d just woken up from a coma. Found myself in a hospital and, had he not come along, I’d’ve been fucked.” She tipped her head.  
“Sounds...terrifying.”  
“Yep. Had no idea where I was or what was going on.” Ellie looked curious.  
“How old are you? I’m fourteen and you look about my age.”  
“Same. Turned fourteen in July.” She blinked.  
“Oh...I’m older. I was born in March.” He gave a little smile, before pulling her behind the desk.

“Wh-” He took a deep breath and spoke with a very soft and understanding voice.  
“You’re immune...aren’t you?” She jumped out of her skin.  
“What?”  
“You can’t be turned...can you?” She blinked and he sighed gently.  
“There’s something about you that tells me you’re different.” She glanced around and listened, not hearing them come their direction. Her voice was a little hoarse.  
“Y-Yes…” His green eyes were kind.  
“If you’re comfortable...may I see it?” She fidgeted with her sleeves, before letting out a breath and pulling it up and away from her arm. In her forearm, deeply seated, was a bite mark with the speckles of infection on it, dead and turned to scar tissue.  
“Looks like it hurt...and you must have some kind of nerve damage in that area of your arm.” She nodded and looked down.  
“It...happened three weeks ago. I can’t really feel temperature on it anymore.” He reached a hand for her arm, before stopping and meeting her eyes. She seemed to understand that he was asking for her permission to touch her. He blinked at him, startled that he would ask, and nodded. He, gently, brushed his fingers over the texture of the scar once.  
“It was deep. Feels like it dug halfway to your bones. Don’t worry. I won’t say a word.” She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and pulled her sleeve down.  
“How did you know?” He smirked, teasingly.  
“A magician never reveals their secrets…” She scoffed and rolled her eyes, playfully, ending on a little smile, as the two adults came over to collect them.

It was near a checkpoint that her secret came out. Ellie pulled out her dagger and stabbed the guy scanning her in the leg, causing Izuku, who was after her, to jump in and break his neck. The woman was an easier one to take down, dealt with by Tess. Said woman picked up the scanner and grimaced down at the screen.  
“Well, shit…” Joel turned to her.  
“What?” She tossed it to him.  
“See for yourself.” He looked and scoffed.  
“Jesus Christ...Marlene set us up?! Why are we smuggling an infected girl?!” Ellie looked terrified.  
“I’m not infected.” He threw down the scanner.  
“Is this lying then?” She pulled up her sleeve.  
“Look at it-”  
“I don’t want to see how you were infected.”  
“Just look at it. It’s three weeks.”  
“No...Everyone turns within two days. You stop bullshitting.”  
“It’s three weeks. I swear. Why would she set you up?” Izuku sighed, finally joining in.  
“Look at her arm. It’s not open flesh. It scarred over. Would Marlene truly have put herself in danger if Ellie were infected? I don’t think so. We can talk in this later. Reinforcements are coming.” They booked it out of there, Ellie staying near Tess and Izuku near Joel. 

It was the next day that they found the bodies of the Fireflies they were supposed to meet. Tess was frantic, trying to find a map to where they were going. When Joel confronted her about her panic, she broke and said that it was her last stop and that it was her end. He was confused, until both teenagers spoke at the same time.  
“Holy shit...She’s infected…” He turned to her and cut her off.  
“Show it to me.” She flipped away her collar, the bite in her neck red, inflamed, and getting worse...much worse.  
“Oh Christ…”  
“Oop...Huh?” She walked over to Ellie and pushed her sleeve up.  
“This was three weeks...I was bitten an hour ago and it’s already worse! This is fucking real, Joel!” She walked over to him, talking about how there must be something he owed her, when they heard military outside.  
“Go! I’ll hold them off!” Izuku looked pained.  
“Tess…”  
“I will not turn into one of those things. I will not.” He met her eyes and nodded.  
“I understand.” He walked forwards to right in front of Ellie, before lifting her up and throwing her over his shoulder.  
“Izuku?!” He turned his head to Joel.  
“We need to go. Now.” The man looked back at the woman, before the teen sighed.  
“I know, Joel. But, if we don’t get out of here right. Now. We are gonna be swiss cheese.” He scoffed again and took off behind Izuku, who shifted Ellie into a bridal carry.

As they ran, they heard a gunshot and a scream.


	3. Relations

A darker skinned man crouched in front of a stewing pot, Joel next to him. Ellie sat up and yawned.  
“Damn...That smells good…” She glanced to the side, finding Izuku turning his head away from the window. He gave a little smile and a salute, as Henry chuckled.  
“Why don’t you go wake Sam? Then we can eat.” She nodded and got up, walking over to the other room. The others were alerted something was wrong, when she screamed.  
“Sam!” As soon as the younger boy barreled through the door and onto Ellie, snarling and groaning, Joel knew.  
“Shit! He’s turning!” Henry shot at him.  
“That’s my fuckin’ brother!” Before they could go further, Izuku pulled Sam away from the girl. The, new, runner just twitched and stared at the other boy. He didn’t attack him, only turned back towards the others, about to start at Ellie again, when Henry shot him. The older looked shaken, starting to point the gun at Joel, before shooting himself in the head.  
“Holy shit!” Joel scrambled to his feet, getting Ellie to stand and corralling both teens out of the small apartment.

It was a while later that they found their way to Wyoming, where Joel said his brother lived. Ellie overheard Joel trying to pass her off on Tommy and ran, making them follow her. Izuku was with her, having heard him trying to get his brother to take him, as well. When Joel confronted Ellie, Izuku was silent, staring out the window. As they started to leave, Joel looked back.  
“Izuku.” The teen got up and followed them without a word, getting on the back of Ellie’s horse. He was quiet, wrapping his arms around her waist, as they rode back.  
“Ellie. Give him your horse. I think we’ll keep this guy, if ya don’t mind...C’mon. Don’t make me repeat myself.” She gave the reigns to the man and was helped up onto the back of Joel’s horse.  
“What are you doing?” The older man seemed to grow a touch anxious.  
“...Your wife kinda scares me...I’d rather she not come after you for it.” Izuku stood between them, before Joel helped him up onto the front of the horse, in front of him. Tommy tried to negotiate, but Joel’s mind was made up.  
“So...This science building...How will I know which it is?”  
“It looks like a giant mirror..y-you can’t miss it.” Then, they were on their way in silence. Night fell quickly and they made camp, keeping ears out for intruders, be they infected or raiders. 

Izuku sat in seiza, next to a tree, just staring at the sky. The man sighed.  
“Kid...I know you heard me. I just wanted you to be safe.” Izuku hissed softly.  
“Bullshit...You know I can take care of myself.”  
“Ki-”  
“I know you barely care for anyone, but yourself, but...I thought…”  
“Izuku. I know. I’m an asshole. It was a mistake. I just...wanted you to not have to worry so much about all this shit.” A single tear caught the moonlight, as Izuku choked on his whispered words.  
“...I thought you were different...I thought...I thought someone had finally seen me as strong and useful...but…” That struck something in Joel’s mind.  
“Different? Didn’t you have coma amnesia when I found you?” Ellie turned to them, having overheard. Izuku sighed.  
“I guess I can’t hide it anymore. Fine.” He reached up to his beanie, making them both jump. Neither had ever seen his hair. He pulled it off and his hair poofed out, green and to his shoulders.  
“How did you get hair dye in a time like this?”  
“I didn’t. This is my natural hair color.”  
“But-”  
“That’s not possible...That’s what you were going to say, right? I’m gonna sound bat shit fucking insane, but...I’m not from here. I’m not from this world. No. I’m not an alien. I come from a different timeline and future.” He was stared at, but he continued.  
“Where I come from, there has been a shock to genetics, causing mutations in eighty percent of the world’s population, giving them abilities. We call them quirks.”  
“Kid…”  
“Don’t look at me like I just crawled out of the looney bin.”  
“What are these quirks?” He nodded at Ellie.  
“It’s a power...to be blunt and simplistic. There’s no true way to explain quirks. Just...think of an ability and I’m sure there has to have had or there is someone with that power. My mom could attracts small objects to her and my father could breathe fire...an ex-friend of mine could create explosions from his hands and there are many adults...in the heroic profession, that have other quirks. One can put people to sleep and another can manipulate his own blood to his will. But...In this world of heroes and quirks, there’s bound to be crime and villainy. I...I was believed to be quirkless...and I thought so too, until I appeared here from certain death.”

Joel stared at him.  
“Kid...Have you been reading too much?” Izuku’s eyebrows furrowed.  
“Don’t fucking do that! I stared down a fucking bullet train, thinking I was gonna fucking die! Then...I’m falling...and I tumble out of the wall in that hospital, where I had to ditch my school uniform and brightly colored backpack. The rest you know.” The brunette took a deep breath.  
“Alright...If you thought you were quirkless, how the hell did you end up here?”  
“I think my fear and panic caused a dormant quirk in my DNA to come to the surface. It popped up when my body knew I was in mortal danger.” They all went silent, before, out of nowhere, Ellie asked a question that had nothing to do with quirks.  
“When we were back there...in Pittsburgh...Why didn’t Sam attack you?” The greenette started, before covering his face with his hands and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms.  
“I knew you’d bring that up...and I don’t blame you.” Joel seemed to remember that little tidbit and turned to his other charge.  
“Kid…” Izuku sighed.  
“I’m like her.”  
“What?”  
“I’m like Ellie, but...not in the same way as she is.” Ellie stared at him with wide eyes.  
“You’re...immune?” Izuku nodded.  
“I think I have another, latent, quirk that’s always active. I believe it’s a poison filter. It kept me from turning, but...I’m...I’m still infected. Ellie isn’t, due to her being chemically immune, but...My bite is still infectious.” They stared at him, as Joel’s hand inched towards his gun. Izuku gave a mirthless chuckle.  
“I knew you’d do that…” Ellie reached for him.  
“Izuku.”  
“I have the stamina and durability of an infected. I have claws, albeit small, and I can’t feel temperature the way others can. I can click and receive echolocation feedback. And...I can sense the infected. I’m no longer a target for the infected, due to being infected with the virus.” Ellie looked stunned.  
“That’s how you knew…” He nodded.  
“How I knew you were immune.” Joel looked startled.  
“You what?” Green eyes bet hazel.  
“When we met her, I knew she was immune.”  
“Wh-” He cut him off.  
“What was I supposed to say? You’d have killed her right off the bat.” The older went silent, knowing he was right.  
“...Show me.”  
“What?”  
“Show me your bite mark.” Izuku lifted the side of his shirt, showing off the very deep scar, surrounded by a worse case of dead infection than Ellie.  
“Holy fuck…”  
“I know.”  
“That’s not a runner bite.”  
“Clicker.”  
“But...When?”  
“The day you and I met. In the supermarket. When I told you to run. One got in close enough to bite.”  
“That was six months ago...and I asked if you were bit.” Izuku scoffed.  
“What was I supposed to say? Yes? And have you shoot me? Had I started to turn I would have either shot myself or had you do it.” The serious look on his face made Joel groan and rub at his face.  
“Alright. If you came here through a wormhole, why haven’t you gone back?”  
“I can’t control it very well. And nowhere near the size of a human. The largest I can get it is the size of an apple. Even if I had gotten it to person sized, I wouldn’t know what would happen if someone, other than me, went through it.” Joel knew the boy was right. 

And he didn’t know why that scared him.


	4. Flesh

Flanking a deer, both teenagers aimed their bows, Ellie’s being full and Izuku’s being handmade, and shot the buck twice, following the blood trail into an abandoned and rotting house.   
“How are you still alive…”  
“It’s not.” They found it lying on the ground, having bled out.  
“Nice. Let’s get i-” They both turned around, aiming their bows at two men coming out of the trees. They put their hands up, as the older one spoke.  
“Hello. We just want to talk.”  
“Any sudden moves and we put one between your eyes...What do you want?” Alarm bells went off in Izuku’s head, as the man introduced himself.  
“Um...Name’s David. This here’s my friend, James. We’re from a larger group-women, children-we’re all very, very, hungry.”  
“So are we-women and children-very hungry too.”  
“Well, maybe we could, ah, trade you for some of that meat there. What do you need? Weapons, ammo, clothes-” Izuku nudged his foot against hers.  
“Medicine. Do you have any antibiotics?” The greenette could tell Ellie was getting anxious. David responded.  
“We do. Back at the camp. You’re welcome to follow us-”  
“We aren’t following you anywhere. Buddy-Boy over there can go get it. If he comes back with what we need, the deer is all yours. Anyone else shows up-”  
“You put one right between our eyes. Two bottles of penicillin and a syringe. Make it fast.” 

As James ran off, Ellie eyed the gun on David’s back.  
“I’ll take that rifle.”  
“Of course.” He set the gun down in front of her.  
“Back up.” He complied and she put the bow on her back, picking up the rifle and cocking it, aiming it at the man before them. He shrugged and looked around.  
“It’s, uh, gonna be a while. Mind if we take some shelter from the cold?” Izuku put his bow away and whispered in her ear.  
“We need to be careful. Something hinky is going on. He smells...off.” She nodded to her companion, her eyes never leaving the man in front of them.  
“Alright. Bring him with us.” He nodded and started pulling the deer by the antlers, when Izuku picked up the back legs and yanked it up onto his shoulders, scoffing at the older.  
“Tch...Weak.” Those dusted olive eyes went wide.  
“Hey. How are you so strong?” Emerald swept over to him.  
“Am I strong? No. Not really. I just carry a weight on my back every day.” It wasn’t an answer in the slightest, but the man nodded anyways. In the middle of the floor, David started a campfire and then asked for their names.  
“Why?”  
“Look...I know it’s not easy to trust a couple strangers. Whoever’s hurt...You, clearly, care about them. I’m sure it’s gonna be just fine.”  
“We’ll see.” That was when Izuku’s head snapped up and to the window. He slipped into calling her the code name they’d set up for these kinds of situations.  
“Fletching.” She started at the name.  
“Notch? What’s wrong?” He made a twitch with his head.  
“We have company.” Ellie was on her feet, as soon as he said that. David, on the other hand, was left out of their communication.   
“What?” Izuku flicked his eyes that way.  
“Infected.” That was when the sound of clickers and runners came into hearing distance. They had to fight to get out of there.

David revealed that a group of his men were killed by a man travelling with a little boy and girl. When they felt their guards go up and they aimed at him again, he tried to placate them.  
“It’s not your fault. You’re just kids...James lower your gun.” The man in the doorway had his pistol aimed at them, making Izuku put his bow away and pull out his own two pistols.  
“I won’t let them go.”  
“Lower your gun. Now...Give them the medicine.” He threw the parcel in front of her.  
“The others won’t be happy about this.”  
“That’s none of your concern.” Ellie picked up the package and they moved towards the door, each of them having, at least, one case of certain death aiming at their faces.  
“Move the fuck out of the way.” David tried to tell them that they wouldn’t make it long out there and that he could protect them. The refused and ran back the way they came, mounting Callus and getting out of there. It was a few minutes, before they came back to the lodge, where Joel was on the floor, trying to recover from wound sepsis.  
“Joel?” He sounded like he was stirring, but in a considerable amount of pain. They knelt by him, Ellie speaking.  
“We only managed to get a little bit of food, but we did get this.” She held up the medicine and syringe, but he was too delirious to respond. The impalement had nearly killed him and it was no surprise he was in so much agony. She drew some penicillin into the needle and tested the tip a little.  
“Here we go…” She told him to lift his arm and he was able to do so just enough for her to be able to lift his shirt, where a nasty injury, crudely stitched up, laid as a gouge in his lower torso. She stuck the needle into the raw part of his flesh, making him let out a sound of pain.  
“Sorry…All done.” She pulled up a blanket and put her hand on his forehead, as he spiraled into another fever dream.  
“You’re gonna make it.” Using their packs as pillows, the teenagers fell into their own dreamless sleep.

They were woken by the sound of people near their hiding spot.  
“Fuck...They tracked us.” They nodded to each other.  
“We’re gonna go draw them away from here. We’ll be back for you.” Getting outside, they mounted Callus and started moving away from there, when one of the goons grabbed her.  
“Hey! I got her!” She pulled her knife out and stabbed him in the chest, instantly killing him. They went off into a gallop, Izuku kicking and stabbing the guys that latched onto the horse and them. When they got halfway down the mountainous area, Ellie sounded panicked.  
“What do they want from us?!”  
“I told you he was bad news!”  
“I know! I believed you!”  
“Keep steering!” It was too late. The bullet wounds caught up to Callus and they went flying and rolling off a short drop. Callus was dead.   
“Oh fuck!”  
“C’mon!”

They both woke up, holding their heads. They were in a cell. Ellie had bruises around her neck and Izuku had dried blood painting the side of his head. Silently, they noticed someone cutting something up. Both had to hold in their nausea. That was a corpse. David came in, having been notified by the butcher, and placed a couple trays of food on the ground, sliding them under the fence.  
“You’ve been out for a few days. You must be hungry.” Ellie stared at him in disgust.  
“What is it?”  
“It’s...just deer.”  
“With some human helping on the side?”  
“No. I promise...It’s just the deer.” She glanced at Izuku.  
“Notch?” He glared at the man and crouched, taking a deep breath through his nose.  
“It’s just deer.” She dropped down to her knees, spitting her words at David.  
“You’re a fucking animal.” He went on about his spiel on their similar motives for killing, causing Izuku to hiss at him.  
“You always have a choice!”  
“What would you have done?!”  
“I WOULD HAVE STARVED!” He started to turn all creepy, telling them that they had heart and loyalty, as he reached out to touch their hands with each of his. Their faces softened, as if realizing something, and they reached around with their other hands. Ellie twisted and broke his right index finger, while Izuku, being bigger and stronger, squeezed and jerked his entire hand, breaking the man’s left wrist. They both reached for the keys, but couldn’t grab them. Their arms were grabbed and they were slammed against the bars, leaving splits in their faces.  
“You stupid kids! What am I gonna tell them now?”   
“Ellie…”  
“And Izuku…”  
“What?”  
“Tell them Ellie and Izuku were the little kids that broke your fucking bones!” The man gave a little sneer.  
“How did you put it? Little tiny pieces…”

It was later that both teens were wrestled out of the cell, Ellie biting David’s hand and Izuku biting into James’ wrist. As they were slammed up on the table and the cleaver was raised up, before both of them cried out.  
“I’m infected! I’m infected…”  
“Really?” His voice was condescending.  
“Roll up my sleeve. Look at it!” He did and saw her mark.  
“What the fuck is that?!”  
“She would have turned by now. It can’t be real.”  
“Looks pretty fucking real, man!” He seemed extremely panicked, his skin gaining a harsh sweat. David looked at Izuku, who stared back.  
“I knew that smell of flesh on you wasn’t you burning the dead...Lift the side of my shirt.” He did, eyeing the deep teeth marks in the boy’s skin, before hearing Ellie chuckle once.  
“What did you say? _Everything happens for a reason?_ ” When David moved back to look at his bite wound, he heard James starting to gargle and looked up to see his companion’s eyes starting to turn pale, before Ellie swung the cleaver into his neck, killing him. Both teenagers rolled off the table and ran into the supply closet, Ellie grabbing her switch and Izuku reclaiming his butterfly knives, before leaping through a window.  
“Holy shit, Izuku...I know you told us you’re still infectious, but...fuck…”  
“I don’t have any idea why my bites speed the process up. Let’s just get the fuck out of here.” She nodded and they continued on their way.

They were cornered in the restaurant, circling around David, as he worked a gun with his broken finger and wrist, as if he didn’t care. Ellie snuck up on him twice and stabbed him, Izuku working on adding more slice marks to the psychopath’s Achilles tendons. There was a third pass that caused the three of them to go sprawling and knocking a lantern onto the floor. The building started to go up in flames, as Ellie flipped over, starting to crawl toward the machete that had flown from David’s hand. The man kicked her in the stomach and then the side, making her fall onto her other side. Before the man could straddle her, Izuku came up behind him, smashing a wooden plank against the back of his head. The embers burned the flesh on the back of his neck, as he growled and swung back, smacking the greenette in the face.  
“Fuck!” He shook the pain off and stabbed his hunting knife into the space between David’s shoulder blades. This time, Izuku was knocked away hard enough to hit his head on the table near the window. He wasn’t unconscious, but he was in tremendous pain and he was sure he had a concussion. David straddled Ellie and tried to strangle her, before she was able to reach the machete’s handle and swing it up, slicing into the man’s neck and shoulder. He cried out in pain and tipped to the side, where the girl reversed their positions, lashing out with the machete and hacking into the man’s face, piercing his brain and throwing blood and gore around. She only stopped, when someone wrapped their arms around her waist. She struggled.  
“Don’t fucking touch me!”  
“Ellie! Ellie! It’s me! It’s me…” She calmed, as she came into view of Joel, and tears glossed her eyes.  
“He...He tried to…” He pulled her into a hug.  
“Oh, Baby Girl…” She sobbed into his chest, as another hand settled on her shoulder, making her turn a little, showing the splits in her lips and cuts around her face.

Izuku still had dried blood painting down from his temple, his hair staining red from the blood on the back of his head. His face was all cut up and he was holding his chest from the damage he sustained. He was favoring his right leg and looked dazed and tired. She turned around and pulled him into a desperate hug, which he responded to by wrapping a bruised hand around the back of her shoulder and the other, which was cut up a bit from crawling around broken dishes, pet her hair. His speech came out a little slurred.  
“‘S gon be a’ight…” Joel brought them both into a hug from their side, making dazed green eyes meet brown.  
“It’s alright, Ace.” A touch of a smile fidgeted at Izuku’s lips, before he let go of the girl and held his head.  
“You, probably, have a concussion, Ace. Let’s get back to our hideout.” They nodded and Izuku was carried by the man for half the trip, due to still being off balance and not quite all there, yet. When the halfway point came, Izuku told him to set him down.  
“Worry ‘bout your own weight. We don’ want your stitches to break open.” Honestly, the man knew he was right. It hurt to walk on his own, his organs pushing down on the, healing, hole in his lower torso. Ellie helped them both back to the resort, where she wrapped Izuku’s head, chest, and arms in bandages. He tried to smile at her, but he was shaking. She put a hand on his chest and, gently, pushed him onto his back.  
“We should sleep...and recover.” He nodded and let his eyes roll back in his head. Ellie laid down next to them, on either side of Joel. They all needed sleep. Especially after the trauma that had happened in the last few days.


	5. Migraine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lightning fingers

He woke up, head spinning. The slight edge of a concussion he had was blown way up, but the pain splintering through the back of his skull. He groaned, remembering that he had been knocked out. A voice at the foot of the bed woke him up further.  
“Ah. Sorry about that, you two.” He opened his eyes, finding Marlene there. Both he and Joel sat up, holding their heads.  
“Those two were new and didn’t know you were friendlies.” Izuku noticed one person missing.  
“Wh...Where’s Ellie?” As he waited for her to answer, he pat himself over, pulling out his flask and took a drink off of it.  
“She’s being prepped for surgery.”  
“Surgery? The infection grows all over the brain.”  
“If this works...We’ll have a vaccine. A vaccine…”  
“IF it works.” Her dark eyes met flickering green.  
“I know it’s hard to let someone die like this. You...didn’t get attached to her...did you?” Izuku scoffed and fell back to the pillow, as she addressed him.  
“We took screenings to make sure the hits to your heads didn’t mess you up too bad. You had the remnants of a nasty concussion...but...There’s something else we found.” Her eyes darkened, yet flickered with curiosity.  
“The infection in your body rooted in your brain, but never grew past runner stage, before dying. How is that?” He scoffed at her.  
“None of your business.”  
“Do you know how helpful you would be to us?”  
“I, actually, wouldn’t. My bite can still transmit the infection, but at a faster rate of growth. Last guy I bit turned in less than ten minutes.”  
“That isn’t possible.” He gave her a tired, cheeky, smirk.  
“Ya wanna test that?” She scoffed and had the pair of soldiers, standing guard, take them out of the building with orders to shoot them if they gave any trouble. 

Halfway, Joel gave a glance at the boy, who, subtly, gave him the affirmative and, after three steps, they turned around, pinning their escorts to the wall. Each aimed the soldiers’ handguns at their groins, demanding to know where Ellie was. When they were silent too long, they shot twice, leaving the men in agony, only able to choke out two phrases.  
“Top...floor...The far end.” As they were let fall to their knees, each was capped in the forehead, killing them instantly. There were calls from further in.  
“Gunshots! Search the area!”

When they reached the operating room, Joel killed the doctors that came after him, but left the cowering nurses, as they hadn’t attacked him. He picked Ellie up, unhooked from the machines and made his way out, Izuku covering their asses. When they got to the elevator and stepped into the second parking level, Marlene was there to meet them, aiming her gun at their heads.  
“You can’t save her. Even if you get out of here, then what? How long until she’s torn to pieces by a pack of clickers? That is if she hasn’t been raped and murdered first.”  
“That ain’t for you to decide.”  
“It’s what she’d want.” She started to put her gun down.  
“Look...You can still do the right thing here. She won’t feel anything.” Izuku kept his gun aimed at her, as he glanced to their father figure, as his face morphed into mental agony. A shot went off and the woman went to the ground, into a pool of her own blood. As Joel got Ellie into the back seat of a truck, Izuku had his gun aimed at her, while Marlene started to bleed out on the ground. When the man came back, he jerked his head to the truck.  
“Go. Get in.” The greenette put his gun away and did as told.  
“Wait!...Let me go!” The man shook his head.  
“You’d only come after her.” With a single bullet to the head, the dark haired woman was dead.

A couple hours later found Ellie waking up. She yawned and glanced down at the hospital gown she was in.  
“What the hell am I wearing?” Joel responded from the driver’s seat.  
“Just take it easy...drugs are still wearing off.” She found her head in Izuku’s lap, as he sat in the passenger side back seat, looking out the window with a hand on her forehead.  
“What happened?”  
“We found The Fireflies. Turns out, there’s a whole lot more like you, Ellie. People that are immune. It’s dozens, actually. Ain’t done a damn bit a good neither. They’ve actually st-...They’ve stopped looking for a cure.” She grimaced, as he continued.  
“I’m taking us home...I’m sorry.” She turned to face Izuku’s stomach, one hand going up to touch his face. Green met green, a little pained smile on his lips, before he turned back toward the window. Joel sighed.  
“He...accidentally bit someone and there was a small outbreak in the hospital...Marlene didn’t survive. I’m sorry.” Ellie nodded and brushed the back of her hand over Izuku’s cheek. She closed her eyes and put her hand down, letting herself fall asleep again. As she knocked out again, Izuku’s eyes flicked to Joel and he nodded. Perfect execution of their plan.

It was approaching around one in the afternoon, when they passed into Jackson, Wyoming. Ellie was sitting up on the seat and eating a granola bar to help with her lightheadedness. Joel parked and checked the hood, while Ellie changed and Izuku took a quick stock to give her some privacy. She sat on the edge of her seat, running her fingers along her bite scar, before Joel came around, after closing the hood.  
“Well...Looks like we’re walkin’.” She got up and closed the door, starting after him. She noticed something and found Izuku walking behind her, seeming like he was lost in his own mind. Deciding to ask later, she continued to follow their father-figure into the trees and over rocks. When the dam came into view, they went up over a log, where Joel helped Ellie and Ellie helped Izuku. Before they continued, Ellie spoke up.  
“Hey, wait…” When she got the man’s attention, she sighed.  
“Back in Boston-Back when I was bitten. I wasn’t alone. My best friend was there...and she got bit too. We didn’t know what to do, so she says, ‘Let’s wait it out. Y’know, we can be all poetic and lose our minds together’...I’m still waiting for my turn.”  
“Ellie-”  
“Her name was Riley and she was the first to die...and then it was Tess...and then Sam.”  
“None of that is on you.”  
“No. You don’t understand.”  
“I struggled for a long time with survivin’. And you-” He brushed his hand over his broken watch.  
“No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for. Now, I know that’s not what you want to hear, right now but it’s-”  
“Swear to me. Swear to me that everything you both said about The Fireflies is true.” She looked at both man and boy, as they met her eyes.  
“I swear.”   
“I swear.” She sighed and nodded.  
“Ok…” They started walking again and reached the front gates, calling to the guards that he’s Tommy’s brother. Out came the blonde, not minutes later.  
“You came back…”  
“Yeah. The fireflies...Half of what was left in that hospital turned into a small outbreak. This was after we found out that...immunes aren’t helping the search for the cure. We thought it would be best to try out luck back here...That is...If you’ll have us?” Tommy laughed a little and pulled his brother into a hug.  
“Of course you’re welcome here! C’mon!”

The two teens followed behind, Izuku starting to hold his head again. Ellie noticed.  
“Your concussion bothering you, still?”  
“Just a little. It’s a bit bright.” She nodded and they went inside, where the four of them grouped in Tommy’s office, where he brought Maria with him.  
“What the hell, Tom?”  
“Sorry, Love, but I need to ask them something and I think you should be there, considering you screen the newcomers.” She made a face like she knew he was right and let herself be pulled. When the door was closed, he relayed to her what had happened to The Fireflies, before the younger man turned to them.  
“And how did an outbreak form inside the hospital? They keep the perimeters guarded.” Izuku sighed and stepped forwards, his face set in the visual representation of a sigh.  
“It was my fault. I’m like Ellie, only...different. My bite is still infectious, but only if it breaks the skin. When they were making sure we hadn’t sustained head injury, I guess I fell forwards onto one of them and bit him. My bites take less time to turn people, so the place was swarmed in less than four hours...I know. You want to shoot me or kick me out.” Tommy shared a look with his wife, before she shook her head and put a hand on his shoulder.  
“You sound like you have this under control. Besides...You’re just a kid.” He nodded and held his head again. Ellie walked over to him and pressed her canteen against his forehead.  
“Thanks…” Maria looked curious.  
“Is there something wrong?” Ellie cleared her throat.  
“Tail end of a bad concussion he got at the end of winter.” He nodded.  
“Got knocked around and my head was smacked into a table, wall, and support pillar...in...uh...opposite order.” After a moment, he sighed and glanced at the other two. The look in his eyes made the girl stare at him.  
“Are you sure?”  
“We’ll be living here, so I don’t want them getting suspicious if small, random things, disappear out of nowhere.” Joel put his hand on the back of his shoulders, letting him know he had his support. Turning back to the couple in front of them, he recounted where he was from and about quirks and how he got there. By the end of it, Tommy was sat down, rubbing his face.  
“So...You’re from the future of another timeline? Where the outbreak never happened?”  
“Yes.”  
“Just how far in the future?” His companions turned to look at him again.  
“You never really told us either.”  
“I...I’m from 2647.” They all jumped.  
“You’re from five hundred and thirteen years in the future?!”  
“Yes. And from Japan, if my name wasn’t a big clue.” Tommy whistled.  
“Holy shit...and how long have quirks been around by your time?”  
“About eighty years. Now that you know...I’ve been trying to train my quirk to let bigger and bigger things through.”  
“If you could get it big enough…” Izuku knew what he was happening.  
“I don’t know what would happen if anything organic went through it, besides me. It could be possible that nothing happens, but...It could also be possible that the end result is disintegration or vaporization...I’m not sure and...it scares me.” Tommy and his wife nodded at each other and smiled at the trio.  
“Welcome to our safehouse.”


	6. A Way

Ellie, finally, got Izuku alone.  
“Hey…”  
“Hm?” She took a deep breath.  
“Is something wrong? You’ve barely talked since I woke up from the anesthesia.” It seemed like the circles under his eyes got deeper.  
“Ah...Sorry. I’ve just...been thinking.” His hand, instinctively, crawled towards his side. Where his bite scar was. She stopped his hand.  
“Hey...Are you thinking about that little outbreak?” He sighed and that was enough of an answer for her.  
“That wasn’t your fault.”  
“But...If I’d just...not let that fucking clicker get inside my guard like that-” He was cut off by hands on his shoulders.  
“Stop. From what Joel told me, you saved him. If he’d stayed, he thinks that both of you would’ve died.” She pat the side of his face, gently.  
“It’s not your fault they weren’t careful.” His hair slipped into his face, as his head tilted forward.  
“But...James...was my fault.” Her green eyes widened, recognizing the name of David’s right hand lackey. She gave him a slight shake.  
“He was gonna chop us up. You biting him gave us an opening to get the fuck out of there! You. Saved. Us. I never got a chance to thank you...with what happened afterwards. So...Thank you. You saved my ass more times than I saved yours.” Izuku chuckled a little, before messing her hair up.

She whined, but laughed a bit at the show of affection.  
“Thanks, Ellie.” Suddenly, from a bit away, Tommy, teasingly, called over to them.  
“Just kiss, you lovebirds!” Both turned pink and spluttered at the same time.  
“What?! No! I’m gay!” That made the three adults spit their drinks, as both teens turned back to each other, startled expressions on their faces. The girl laughed.  
“You’re gay?”  
“Yeah. You?”  
“Not sure. Probably bi, but I’m not sure yet.” She hummed, continuing her thoughts.  
“So...How did you figure it out?” Izuku went a little pink in the face.  
“Uh...Pretty much all the heroes, back in my world, are hot as fuck.” She spit laughed.  
“I found out about myself when...when Riley kissed me on the lips.” Izuku ruffled her hair again.  
“I fully figured it out a couple months after I met Joel. I was sent to do a sweep of the area, when, in out quarantine zone, some of the kids my age were getting together for some kind of game night. Included alcohol and...uh...spin the bottle. Long story short, the other guy was probably five years older than me and, well, hot. He and I ended up making out for five minutes straight. He. Was. Wasted.”  
“And you weren’t?”  
“If I didn’t have my filter ability, I’m sure I would have. I can’t get legitimately drunk. Only tipsy at most. That’s why I drink. To keep the edge off.” He fidgeted with the flask in his pocket, but didn’t bring it out. Ellie glanced over her shoulder, finding the two brothers talking again.  
“Let’s go somewhere else.” Izuku nodded and followed after her.

When she stopped, she sighed.  
“Was there something else?” The greenette relented.  
“Fine...I...I’m more attracted to older men. Like...ten years older than me, at least.” She tipped her head, prompting him to continue.  
“I haven’t really given it much thought though. Since...ya know...Running from the infected hasn’t really given any windows or incentive to look for anyone.” It was pessimistic, but he was right. She gave him a little smile and a sisterly nod, which he reciprocated and they went back to the common areas.

It was another month and a half later that Joel found his, practically, adoptive son out of sorts. He moved and looked like he had something on his mind. Like he was indecisive.   
“Hey, Ace!” The greenette blinked and looked up.  
“Oh, hey...Is there something you needed?”  
“Yeah. Could I talk to you?”  
“Sure.” They walked into a secluded part of the dam, where the man sighed a little.  
“You’ve been acting a little off all day. Is something the matter?” Izuku rubbed his face.  
“I...think we should round up Ellie, Tommy, and Maria…” The, greying, brunette looked taken off guard.  
“Why? Is there something wrong?” Izuku looked like he was in pain.  
“Please. I...have news.” The man nodded and they split, the boy finding his sister and aunt figures, while Joel got his brother. They brought them to Tommy’s office, where Joel turned to Izuku.  
“Ace...Are ya gonna tell us what has you acting strange?” The greenette nodded, hesitantly.

“I...I’ve been training my quirk...and I got it to my height in size.” Ellie went wide eyed.  
“You could go back to your time and dimension.” The pain came back to his face.  
“That’s the thing...I-I’m not sure I _want_ to go back.” That startled the other four.  
“But, why? Wouldn’t where you come from be free of the infected?” It was Maria that had spoken. Izuku sighed.  
“I...have a family here. Here, I’m actually worth something. Here, I can make a difference. There...the only person I truly have is my mom...my biological one, I mean.” He gave Maria a side glance, before continuing.   
“Back there, I’m considered useless and...and I don’t want to be seen as dead weight. Here is free with only basic rules and there...it’s more complicated. And...I’m not sure if...if I’ll be able to come back and if I can...how long will it be?” He looked shaken, causing Joel to wrap his arm around his shoulders.   
“Ace. You were thrown into this world. You should take the opportunity of peace and calm that none of us may ever get.” Ellie stepped forward.  
“Maybe you could be one of these heroes that you talk about? I think you’d make a really good one. You have a quirk and...even if you didn’t, I’m sure you’d be able to get in with no problem.” Tommy and his wife nodded.  
“You should go. Let yourself be a kid again...Let yourself be free of fear. And, if you find your way back, we’ll be here...Most likely.” After some seconds agonizing over this situation, Izuku came to a conclusion.  
“I...I’ll go.”


	7. Changes In Perspective

It was the next morning that Izuku stood before his adoptive family, his pack filled with things he’d need and things he wanted to take with him. He smiled, sadly, and had them group together. He fit himself between Ellie and Joel, before pulling out an old, polaroid, camera. He printed the photo and let it develop before their eyes, before crowding them against each other again and taking another. He handed them the first and kept the second one for himself.  
“I...I’ll try to come back...I promise.” He got hugs from them all, before his smile turned into an anxious grimace. He sighed and took a deep breath, concentrating, as something warped into view. It wasn’t visible per se, but the air wavered like something was disrupting it. Like looking through crystal clear water. He stared at the, barely five foot six inch, rip in the cosmos, before feeling four, separate, hands on his back, gently nudging him towards his wormhole. He nodded and gave them a grin and salute, before stepping inside. And, then, he was gone, the hole sealing up. 

It was a couple seconds later that he tumbled out of a wall. It was his old living room. Footsteps had him on guard, until he saw green hair and a face he, instantly, recognized. The word that fell from his lips felt so...foreign...to say again.  
“M-Mom?” Green eyes went wide, as the frame in her hand went clattering to the floor.  
“IZUKU!” As she hugged him, he found himself back in his thirteen year old body. Sure, he hadn’t grown too much, but he had shrunk about two or three inches.  
“Oh, Izuku! Where have you been?! We’ve been looking for you for almost a month! We...We thought you activated your quirk and teleported to America, since we couldn’t find you anywhere in Japan!” Izuku blinked, his mind screeching to a halt.  
“Wait. Wait. Did you say a month?”  
“Yes! It was a very long time!”  
“But...Mom. I was gone for over a year.” The woman looked surprised, especially since Izuku had a touch of an American accent. It wouldn’t have been noticeable if she hadn’t known the boy all his life.  
“What do you mean ‘over a year’?” He sat her down and started telling her what happened to him.

By the time he was done, he pulled out the polaroid as proof, pointing to each of them.  
“Joel. Ellie. Tommy. And Maria. They...were like family to me.”  
“You...went to another dimension and into the past…” How did she still seem skeptical?!  
“Mom. I’m tanned, covered in scars, and dressed for weather where the sun is beating down and I’m doing tons of physical activity.” He yanked up the side of his shirt, showing her the chunk missing from his side.  
“I was bitten by a clicker the day I got there. My body filtered the infection out of me and I’m one hundred percent sure it’s because I have a poison filtration quirk. And how else would I come tumbling into the house, when I remember, for a fact, that you lock the door...even when you’re alone. I came through the wall, from a time and place where everything hit the fan...back in 2013. I was there between 2033 and 2034. If I was able to and was confident enough...I wouldn’t have been the only one to come through my wormhole, today.” The seriousness in her son’s eyes, coupled with the photo and the rest of the evidence, made her sigh. She had to believe him.  
“You...You said you have quirks now...Can you…”  
“I can control my wormholes a little. It took a year and a month to get them big enough for me to walk through...There’s...something I haven’t said yet.” He looked nervous.  
“The infection was stopped in my body, but it was never cleared out. My poison filtration stopped the fungus from taking over my brain, but...I’m, technically, still infected. My bite still turns people. Also...The infection pretty much turned into a third quirk. It gave me the abilities of an infected without losing my consciousness...and dying. I can click, since it was a clicker that bit me, and use the echolocation that comes from it. When I was still in that dimension, the infected paid me no mind, since I’m already infected. I don’t, technically, need to eat, but I do get hungry...and I have the durability and near endless stamina of them, as well. I may as well be undead without actually being dead.”  
“Your bite is infectious?”  
“Yes. There were three major incidents. Two of which Joel or Ellie witnessed. The first time I was trying to get out of a raider’s grip. Bit his wrist and...he started turning less than ten minutes later. Mom...You need to know that my hands are filthy. I have so much blood staining them. Both infected and human. I killed him before he could alert the others to an infected in the area. The second incident was...was when Ellie and I were captured by cannibals.” Inko jumped.  
“Cannibals?!”  
“Yes. We tricked them. Ellie’s fully immune to the infection through DNA. She bit the head guy and I bit his lackey. We used our bite scars as a trap, while I used the guy I bit as a distraction. The leader was distracted and Ellie grabbed the meat cleaver that was stabbed between us to slice the artery in his neck. He was dead in less than a minute. The third time...caused a small outbreak in the Firefly hospital we were trying to get to. It was for naught, since they’d given up looking for a cure to the infection. When Joel and I were unconscious, some of the soldiers were bringing us to some of the beds to make sure the hit to our heads didn’t damage anything too bad. One wasn’t careful and, apparently, I slumped over, biting hard enough to break the skin. Everything went downhill from there.” Inko held her head, the thought of her baby having killed people swimming through her head.  
“Izuku...You...must have learned other things while there…”  
“I learned to improvise, use a multitude of guns, make and use both Molotov cocktails and nailbombs, mele fight, fighting with a non bladed weapon, fighting with an improvised bladed weapon, fighting with an axe, fighting with a bow, fighting with a knife, using a flamethrower, making clothes, fixing cars, working with and fixing electrical systems, strategies, and first aid.” His mom only gaped at him, letting him tack on a couple more things.  
“Oh. Maria taught me how to stitch wounds and Joel taught me a bit how to play guitar.” 

Inko fell silent and into a thinking position.  
“Izuku…” He lifted his head to look her in the face.  
“You said that the first guy turned within ten minutes...You acted like that was fast.” The younger greenette sighed and nodded.  
“Usually, the infection takes two days to take effect, at most. My...My bites take two hours, at most.” His mother reached forward and wrapped her arms around her son, who returned it.  
“It’s ok, Izuku. We’ll register your quirks and you’ll be good to go. The only one you’d have to really worry about not using is your wormhole one, since the filter is always active. The infected abilities can be written off as a mutation type.” Izuku gave his mom a gentle, yet sad smile, before nodding in agreement. It would be for the best.

When Izuku got to school, that following Monday, he sat in his seat, knowing that his mother had reported him found. The teacher’s gaze flickered when he saw him, but it was more like relief than acknowledgement.  
“Midoriya Izuku.” The greenette raised his hand.  
“Here.” The confidence in his voice and...just hearing his voice at all caused the rest of the class to turn around to face their, once missing, classmate.  
“Yes. Hello. I’m not dead. Please stop staring at me.” The attention was suffocating. How did he ever want to be a hero, like All Might? So much attention. Maybe he’d shoot for underground, like Eraserhead. When the teacher got back his students’ attention, he started up class again. Izuku became bored very fast. Joel, Tommy, and Maria had already drilled this grade and the next into his head over their time running around. He resolved to stare out the window, just hoping that, in his absence, Bakugo had actually grown some common sense and some manners.

Well...at least he’s improved a little. Not much, but at least some. The greenette found himself cornered by said blonde.  
“Where have you been?! You made the hag and Auntie worry over you!” Green eyes could only stare at him.  
“Tell me, Deku!”  
“Don’t call me that. I’m not useless.” Bakugo’s hands crackled with sparks.  
“Oh yeah?” Before he could even attack him, Izuku had him pinned to the wall. One hand was holding his wrists above his head, the other forearm was across his throat.  
“Yeah. Believe me or not, Katsuki, I have blood on my hands. I can kill you twenty different ways...in plenty of different body parts. If I were a villain, I could snap your neck or choke you to death, right now. I could torture you for information in this position...or worse.” He let go, letting the blonde tumble to the ground, before walking away. As Bakugo watched him do so, he noticed the plethora of scars that covered his ex-friend’s body. Scars meant that you fought. Scars meant you won and survived. Izuku had been in tons of life or death situations. _And he won. Every. Single. Time._


	8. Luck

A couple years went by and Izuku took the exam. He passed in the fourth slot, right after that Uraraka girl. Now, he was stood outside UA, steeling his nerves. When he found the right door, he fixed his mouth mask and pushed it open, finding almost the whole class was there, already. He made a beeline for an open seat and sat. It was a couple minutes, before Bakugo noticed him. Red eyes peered at him from the front row, but he made no move to, verbally, acknowledge him. Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He jolted and grabbed the wrist of a red haired boy, before letting go.  
“Sorry.”  
“Nah, man. I should be the one saying that. I shouldn’t have snuck up on ya. I’m Kirishima Eijiro.” The greenette shook his hand.  
“Midoriya Izuku. Please call me Izuku.” The redhead smiled with a mouth of sharp teeth. Izuku pulled down his mask and smiled back, before putting his, black colored, medical mask back over his mouth and nose.  
“So...Sorry to be blunt in asking, but...How’d you get so scarred up?” Oh, great. He and his mom had come up with a cover story that was pretty much foolproof, unless someone had a lie detector quirk.  
“I went missing for a month a couple years back. I...was put into an unfortunate situation, which...I’m sorry. I don’t like talking about it. I will say that some of these are from attack dogs.” The other teen’s black eyes went wide and sparkled with awe.  
“Woah...That’s so cool...and manly!” That made Izuku smile a little, under his mask.

That was when their teacher, Eraserhead, came in and told them to get into their PE uniforms. They met him on the field, where they were told they would be doing an assessment that allowed quirks. Bakugo was used as an example, throwing the ball with his quirk. It was an impressive distance, he had to admit. They went through a slew of tests, most of them Izuku couldn’t use his quirk for. The first one he could was the dash. He was put in a pair with Bakugo of all the students. When the starting shot went, Bakugo used his explosions to propel himself forward. Izuku sighed and stepped forwards, falling into one of his wormholes, before popping out at the finish line a second later. He was given a score of 1.23 seconds. He beat Iida by almost two full seconds. When they came to the final test, the ball throw, there was a show of creativity from most of them, seeing as over half the class didn’t have strength enhancing quirks. He heard his name.  
“Midoriya Izuku.” He walked over to their teacher, showing that he came to, about, the top of his ear. He had a growth spurt over the summer and it was helped by the fact that he exercised every day. Before he was given the ball, Aizawa leveled him with a glare.  
“Tell me, Midoriya. Why haven’t you been using your quirk for these exams? Besides the dash?” Green eyes sighed a second before his mouth did.  
“My quirk isn’t best suited for most of these things.”  
“How the hell did you get the fourth spot in the Exam?”  
“Skill and my, learned, abilities.” Grey eyes blinked at him.  
“Are you telling me you got into the top Heroics class through, mostly, quirkless means?!”  
“Yes.” He was tossed the ball and told to move into the circle. Testing the weight and shape in his hand, Izuku nodded to himself. He was used to throwing knives, not spherical objects...well...besides smoke bombs. He knew he had no target and this ball was both larger and more solid than the smoke bombs back in the other timeline. Though it had been a couple years, he still felt off in his original world. Blinking out of his brief thoughts, he brought his arm back and let it fly. Aizawa waited for the device in his hand to beep, before turning it towards them. 512 meters. _And that was a quirkless throw._ Everyone was stunned, before another name was called to go up.

Their next class was Heroics and All Might was their teacher. The man was too flashy. He wouldn’t last a month in Joel and Ellie’s universe...if that. He grabbed his suit from the rack and carried the case with him to the changing rooms. When he came out, behind the others, he wore an olive grey, reinforced, flannel shirt that was buttoned up, a black tank underneath. It was extremely reminiscent of the shirt Joel wore. He also had a pair of reinforced jeans and steel soled and toed boots on his legs and feet. A few pockets were hooked to his belt, along with a pair of pistols at his hips and a shotgun strapped to his back. The bottom of his face was covered by a metal and mesh mask that covered from the middle of his nose to his collar and up over his ears, his hair, having grown out more, pulled back into a mid-height ponytail. A simple, plexiglass, visor protected his eyes, connected to his mouth mask and ending about an inch past his hairline. He flexed his hands, which were covered in grey fingerless gloves. He was being stared at.  
“Ah...Midoriya-shounen?” Izuku looked up into the hero’s shaded blue eyes.  
“Yes?”  
“How did you get those through the support department?”  
“They aren’t lethal. They were modified for capture, instead.” The blonde seemed to take that as a good answer. All Might explained what they were doing, while Izuku brought himself down from a mini panic attack. Good fuck! He forgot how big the hero was! He, suddenly, had a flashback of being pinned by a bloater, before Joel blasted it’s head off. This is a hero, not an infected. He brought himself off the attack with some subtle breathing exercises, as their teams were called. Uraraka scooted over next to him, as they were called as a team. Then, the teams were shuffled...and Izuku couldn’t believe his rotten, fucking, luck. He was up against _Bakugo_ of all people...with the blonde being the villain, no less!


	9. Skill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goretober didn't kill me I swear XD

They stood outside the building, Izuku leaning down to Uraraka’s height.  
“Bakugo will come for me. Use this time to get to the room where, I assume, Iida will be with the bomb. If you can’t find a way around him, don’t push yourself to do so. Just scout as much as you can without him seeing you. Call through the earpiece if you’re seen and get as far from him as you can, while keeping him in your sight.” She nodded.  
“What are you going to do?”  
“I’ll keep him off your heels and away from the room. His explosions can be dangerous in small spaces and may hurt you guys.” She gave him a thumbs up, before the call to start rang out.

They darted in and split at the entrance. Izuku dodged to one side to avoid a hand to the face and twisted around to grab the blonde’s wrist. He used his momentum to swing the shorter onto his back, knocking the wind out of him. Izuku pulled out his pistols and aimed at his opponent, who scoffed.  
“What? Ya gonna fucking shoot me?” The greenette deadpanned.  
“You didn’t listen, did you? These are made to capture instead of lethality.” To punctuate his words, he shot at Bakugo and out came a, walnut-sized, pellet. When it hit the halfway point, it exploded into a cloud of grey smoke, putting the other boy on edge. He turned and blocked a palm thrust to the back of his head, noticing that Izuku had his shotgun in one hand. He needed to get it out of his hand. Twisting around, he jammed his elbow into the greenette’s stomach, which did nearly nothing, but delay his movements for a second, which was enough to allow the blonde to knock the gun into the air. Izuku, in retaliation, didn’t blink an eye. He dug his fist into Katsuki’s chest and stomach, hitting his face, shoulders, and hips with palm thrusts and chops to keep him at arm's length. As if time came back to full speed, he caught the gun by the forearm in a one-handed cocking of the slide. The blonde found himself on the business end of the double barrel, a split second before Izuku shot. Two chains bulleted from the muzzles, wrapping around his arm and leg, before reeling in, so that Bakugo was in distance to smack with the stock. Even after the hit to the head, the pale teen was able to shove the heel of his palm into the greenette’s chin, making the chains loosen enough to escape from, where the gun was knocked from his hand. It was kicked away, as Izuku rubbed his face. Green eyes trained on red, as the blonde charged him again. A hand to the side grabbed the shotgun, as it fell into one of his wormholes, popping out into his grip. He swung to the side, smacking Bakugo in the face with it, again. The blonde was stunned, eyes flickering to where the gun had been, not a moment ago. _That was ten meters away._ While he was distracted, even for that split second, Izuku brought the stock back down to his shoulder, making him let out a startled cry of pain. In this position, Izuku was able to get him on his stomach and straddled his back, holding him in a choke hold. That was when he heard Uraraka.  
“Target acquired!” All Might’s voice rang through the building.  
“HERO TEAM WINS!”

Izuku let go and got off the blonde, holding his hand out to him.  
“You ok? I didn’t give you a concussion, did I?” With a sigh, his, once, opponent took his hand and stood.  
“Maybe...I’m not sure. Probably just a fucking headache. How the fuck did you get your gun back? That was meters away!”   
“My primary quirk lets me create wormholes. I’m about to the size of...maybe All Might?”  
“You have a quirk?”  
“Yeah. How did you think I beat you in the dash, this morning?”  
“Let me rephrase that...You have more than one quirk?”  
“Yes. The other is a poison filter and I have one that’s...kinda hard to explain. It makes me more durable and gives me more stamina. It gave me small claws and I don’t need to eat to survive, anymore, but I still get hungry. I cover my mouth, because my bite is venomous and can be deadly, since there’s no cure and no way to reverse engineer an antivenom.” Bakugo stared at him in both awe and horror.  
“Holy shit.”  
“I know.”  
“How did you find out about the venom?” Izuku smirked and wiggled his finger, teasingly.  
“Ah. Ah. Ah. Now what would be the fun in telling you? It’s nice to let you come to your own conclusions.” Red eyes met green.  
“Uh…”  
“Been a while since I’ve seen you speechless.” Red eyes flicked up over his classmate.  
“You said you were put in a bad position, while you were gone…” He wasn’t, directly, asked, but it still made the greenette uneasy. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tin, popping a couple pieces of a white, square, gum that looked like they had a hard coating to them.   
“Don’t...Please. It was a very painful experience. I think I may need to go to the counselors, later. I know you’re curious, but…” The blonde nodded, noticing the discomfort in the teenager’s posture.

It was the end of the day that he took the next right into his homeroom, finding their raven haired teacher there.  
“Hm? Midoriya?”  
“I...came by to ask where the counselors’ offices were.”  
“Technically, I’m your counselor.”  
“This...is more than an issue at home or something. It’s mental.” The man nodded in understanding.  
“There are some stairs on the other end of the hall. They lead to the principal’s office. The counselors are the first left from the steps, on the second floor.”   
“Thank you, Sensei.” He got a nod in response and took off to the stairs. Once up there, he took the left and found three rooms, along with a front desk. A woman sat there.  
“Ah...Good afternoon, Ma’am.” She looked to be about the age of his mother. Her coral pink eyes looked concerned.  
“Oh, hello, Dear. It’s the first day…” He knew what she was about to say.  
“These issues started a while ago, but we never had the resources to fix them, Ma’am.” She nodded, knowing of the unsaid ‘we don’t have the money’ in his voice.  
“Please. Call me Hana. I can see if one of them is still here.”  
“Thank you, Hana-san.” She gave a little smile, brushing her short wheat blonde hair behind her ear, as her heels clicked against the floor, softly. It only took her poking her head into the doorways. Looks like two of them were gone, already, or were elsewhere. The last door, she stopped in for a moment, before nodding and walking back over.  
“What was your name? So I can write it in the records?”  
“Ah. I’m Midoriya Izuku.” Her eyes went a little wide. She must’ve recognized his name from a couple years ago.  
“He’s waiting for you. He might seem a little rough, but he’s probably our best counselor.” Izuku bowed a little and smiled.  
“Thank you.” She seemed to flush a little at the bow, but smiled back, making her seem five years younger. 

He walked, quietly, towards the room he was gestured towards. He knocked on the door frame, so that the man inside would know he was there. He had long and wild blonde hair and his mouth was covered by a muzzle. He looked up, with dark mahogany eyes, over a pair of reading glasses. Izuku blinked a little, in surprise.  
“Oh. Hello Hound Dog-san.” The man rose a brow.  
“Hm? You recognize me?”  
“Of course. You and I have sort of animalistic fighting styles. Midoriya Izuku.” The man shook the student’s outstretched hand.  
“You’re the kid that disappeared for a month a while back.” Izuku nodded.  
“People seem to know me by that, but yes. That was me.” He was gestured to sit.  
“So...What’s on your mind?”


	10. In Part

Izuku took a deep breath and sat.  
“I...have some PTSD from the incident a couple years ago…” Hound Dog removed his glasses and turned towards the greenette.  
“If I may ask, how so?”   
“Um...People over six foot eight or so give me flashbacks and slight panic attacks and I flinch when people touch me without my knowledge. There’s more, but…” A hand went up.  
“You don’t need to tell me them, now, if you don’t want to.” For all the man’s appearance, he was using quite the gentle tone. Not like he was treating him like glass, but he wasn’t being rough. Izuku quieted down and picked at a slightly raised scar on his right cheekbone.  
“Do you feel comfortable telling me about that scar?” Green eyes flicked up.  
“Knifed. Bowie. Sixteen and a half inches.” A clawed finger, gently, motioned towards one on his temple. It was very slightly puckered and paler than his tanned skin.  
“And that one?” The greenette brushed his finger over it.  
“I was shoved into a door frame. It...broke open when I was knocked around. Into a pillar, wall, and the end of a table. Had a nasty concussion that lasted three or four months...It wasn’t pretty. The other scars from that are under my hair.” He got a nod from the hero, as his hands went up to the muzzle and unbuckled it. Bringing it down, let the greenette see that the man had a canine-like face. Brushing his blonde hair from his face let the boy see that there was a decent sized chunk missing from his ear.  
“Mugger latched onto my ear as a pup. Scars show that you survived, Kid.” 

Izuku smiled gently.  
“Yeah...I know...and as heroes we keep finding things to protect...things to survive for.” That got a startled half smile from the blonde.  
“Exactly...What do you have to keep you going? Besides your want to be a hero, I mean.”   
“My mom…” Those reddish brown eyes softened, listening to the boy continue.  
“And...should I be able to get back to them...the people I think of as my family.” That got a raised brow.  
“Hm? Are they not here in Japan?” He got a gentle head shake.  
“In America. That was where I dropped myself a couple years back. I met these people when they saved me from...you know. They kept me safe until I was able to drop myself back at home.” Reaching into his pocket, Izuku pulled out a picture. _The_ picture. It was a little beat up, but mostly taken care of. He glanced up from it, finding the man looking at the photo, curiously. The counselor seemed like someone that wouldn’t go talking about things to his colleagues.   
“Could you...keep a secret?” He knew the answer, but needed to hear it from the man’s mouth.  
“Of course. I keep to a privacy rule, so, unless you tell me to say anything, my lips are sealed.”   
“Thank you.” He put the photo down, letting him see the greenette, surrounded by four other people. Two men, a woman, and a girl that looked his age.  
“This was the family that took me in. It was him that saved me.” He pointed to Joel.  
“This is his adopted daughter…” His finger moved to Ellie, then Tommy and Maria.  
“And his brother and sister-in-law.” That was when Izuku’s mouth formed a small frown.  
“Is there something wrong?”  
“I…” His eyes never left the picture.  
“I almost didn’t come home.”

Hound Dog looked surprised.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Before I disappeared, I was quirkless. My quirks only manifested because I was literally staring down a bullet train. They accepted me for me and not my quirks, or lack of one. I...almost didn’t want to come back.”  
“!”  
“They convinced me that my mother missed me. She was the only one I came back for. I had no friends. My dad died two days after I disappeared. And I had no other family...besides those four.” The counselor shifted a little.  
“Do you feel comfortable talking about your life with them?” Izuku sighed.  
“We were running, mostly. The people after me were after them too. We made our way from Georgia to Massechusets and to Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah, before finally losing them when we circled back to Wyoming. That was when I’d, finally, gotten enough of a grip on my new quirk to get me back home. I would have brought them with me, but I only got my portals to the size of me, at that time, and I wasn’t sure what would happen if someone, other than me, went through them.” He got a nod.  
“You miss them.” It wasn’t a question.  
“Yes...The man that found me became like a father to me.” Izuku noticed the time and stood.  
“It’s getting late. I don’t want to keep you here longer than necessary.”   
“Here.” He was handed a small slip of paper, a number on it.  
“If you need someone to talk to, you can text me to make an appointment.” Green eyes stared at the paper.  
“Thank you.” He heard the hero stand.  
“Thank you for telling me as much as you did.” Izuku beamed.  
“Thank you for listening.”

It was two weeks later, and ten days of counseling/pseudo-therapy, Izuku found himself on a bus to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. He sat with his shotgun across his lap, making sure the chains were retracted fully and that no pieces or parts were loose. Habit. And he had a bad feeling. It was a lot like when he knew the infected were around, only it was more of a gut feeling instead of a linked fact. His brow was furrowed and he didn’t know he was starting to sweat, until a drop dripped onto his eyelashes. He blinked and wiped at his forehead. He jerked and grabbed the wrist of the hand that touched his shoulder, finding that it was his teacher.  
“Midoriya?” His hyper aware emerald eyes started calming down, as he let go of the man.  
“Sorry.”  
“It’s fine. You looked focused and paranoid.”  
“I…” Izuku covered half of his face and took a deep breath.  
“I have PTSD and a sort of sixth sense for danger. When they mix, like just now, it looks like I’m having a panic or paranoia attack. Sorry about that.”  
“Not a problem. You said your danger sense went off?”  
“Yeah...I’m...I don’t know what’s going to happen, but something feels off. My gut feelings are damn near exact. We need to be careful. Very careful.” The raven nodded, his face settling into thought, as Izuku dried the rest of his brow and sideburns of sweat.

Something doesn’t feel right.


	11. Instinct

He knew his senses were accurate, but he never expected _this._

Before he could be warped away, along with Tsuyu and Hitoshi, he grabbed them and skated out of the way, leveling the warp gate with a glare. The man may be tall, but he wasn’t broad. He didn’t look strong. Support, maybe? Nobody noticed him slip over the side of the steps and make his way down to the plaza, where Aizawa was kicking ass. Slowly, though, he was being overwhelmed. Screw the consequences. Leaping out of the shadows, he pistol whipped one of the cannon fodder villains in the face.  
“Midoriya!”  
“No time to lecture! I got your six!-Two o’clock!” Aizawa blocked the arm coming down on him, before kicking the man away. Izuku cocked his shotgun and fired wrapping up one woman and sending her crashing into another man. When things were getting a bit crowded, Izuku cocked his handgun.  
“Sensei! Hold your breath!” The man did as told, as the greenette shot at the ground, the pellet exploding into a smokescreen. Ice water dripped down spines in all directions, as they heard a sound through the cloud. Clicking. It was the type that instilled a primal fear within the breasts of sane men. 

Moments of silence reigned, before screams filled the white fog with chaos. When the screen dropped, Aizawa found that the villains around them were dead. He went to see if his student was alright, only to find him splattered with blood.  
“Midoriya?...” Green eyes slid to him, before staring back at his short, blood stained, claws.  
“Did you-”  
“Kill them? Yes. They were a threat to us. It’s not like I’ve never taken a life before.” The ground started to shake and they looked up, seeing the massive villain lumbering towards them. Pure instinct shot through the greenette, as he shoved his teacher out of the way, taking the brunt of the pseudo-lariat to the stomach. As the thing, Nomu by the other villain’s call, bore down on him, Izuku felt the panic and terror flood his system again. The black skin was replaced by decay and fungus. The beaked face was replaced by a mushroom crest and crooked teeth. Muscle was replaced by a bloated stomach. The Nomu was replaced by a _bloater._

With impulse in his movements, he brought his foot up, making contact with the Nomu’s chin. It squawked and backed up a little, giving him time to reach for his shotgun. Reality flickered, letting him realize that this wasn’t a usual shotgun. It wouldn’t kill. Adapting quickly, he swung the stock, clocking it in the side of the face, before being able to get back again. He made sure to stay away from those meaty hands. A bloater was strong enough to rip a skull wide open. He felt over himself, finding that he didn’t have his usual belt on him. He cursed and reached into his pockets, pulling out six handleless throwing knives, between his fingers. With some distance, he threw them. They embedded into the Nomu’s chest, but they fell out and the wounds closed up again.  
“That’s just not fucking fair!” A shoulder slammed into his back, knocking the wind from him. He heard a crack, as he came back to the ground. His shoulder blade. Getting up, he shot the double barrel at the Nomu, wrapping the chains around its legs. He yanked, throwing the creature off balance. Izuku felt his heart drop when a hand closed down on his leg, pulling him to the ground with it. He jabbed at the creature’s arm, getting it to let him go.  
“Midoriya!” His head snapped up, eyes wide with terror. They looked a touch more feral than the raven hero expected. Apparently, the sound of the man’s voice caught the creature’s attention. It lumbered after the teacher, before raising its fists. When they came back down, it wasn’t Aizawa under them. Two hands held them back, wrists obviously sprained. Eraserhead was on the side, with eyes wide, watching as his student’s shoulders flexed under his flannel.  
“Go!”  
“Mi-”  
“No! GO! Get the others out of the zones!” 

Aizawa scoffed, knowing he was right.  
“Be careful.” Izuku grunted.  
“No promises…” The man grimaced, but took off to help the others, wincing as he heard the greenette’s shoulder pop out of its socket. As soon as Aizawa was out of the way, Izuku dropped and rolled off to the side, holding his arm. Glancing down, he took his upper left arm and slowly pulled down, hissing, as it snapped back into its socket. It was like an aching fire, but he had learned to put pain behind him, long ago. He felt instinct take ahold of him and cradle his chest. That was the only reason he let out a sound he had feared two years prior. A shrill and raspy shriek came from his mouth, accompanied by ferocious clicks and growls. The sounds a clicker made. He stumbled forwards, catching the Nomu in a staredown. In his mind’s eye, all he could see was the hulking monstrosity that had once been a human. Years of infection had destroyed most of its semblance to one. The gas and spore swollen stomach seemed to jiggle, as it moved along with him. He scoffed, internally. What is this thing doing here? Bloaters like dark and humid places, usually. When it charged him, he dodged to the side and used his momentum to launch himself at its back. His short claws were enough to pull him up the thing’s leathery skin. He continued to cuff it over and over in the face, before feeling it grab his face. _Shit._ He was yanked down and his cheek was ground into the concrete. He grunted, as the skin on his face was scraped up and sandpapered by the ground. The hand around the back of his neck slammed him into the ground over and over again. There was blood running down his face, flecking the ground with red splotches, as he was pulled back up again. That was when he felt himself being lifted off the ground and carried away on a strong gust of wind.

When things settled, he found the back of All Might looming over him, as he sat on the ground next to Tsuyu and Hitoshi. In the distance, Aizawa was dancing around Shigaraki and his lethal touch. Green eyes were wide, as he stared at the muscular hero’s back. He was still having his episode. His breathing was elevated and his body was shaking, as he stood again and turned to his classmates.  
“Run to the entrance! Now! I’ll hold them off!” The girl tried to talk to him.  
“Midoriya-kun. You’re not where you think you are, kerro.” He snapped his head to them.  
“Go! NOW!” Startled, they obeyed, and took off, leaving him to stare down All Might’s back. _Why were there two bloaters now?!_ He pulled his shotgun off his back and decided to try and skirt around them, so he could help his teacher. 

It was tedious, but he was able to get to Aizawa, bringing the butt of his gun to the back of Shigaraki’s head. His homeroom teacher looked over, finding the teen’s eyes wide and predatory. It was like he was...having a PTSD attack. That had to be the answer. His reaction to the Nomu. His hyper focused nature. His reflexes. Izuku dug his knee into the young man’s back, right around where his kidneys were. He made sure to keep away from those deadly hands, as he jabbed into Tomura’s spine and flesh with the muzzle tip of his gun. An elbow shot back into his gut, forcing the student off of him. This lapse in concentration let Aizawa land a fist to the man’s face. The teacher and student met eyes and nodded. Each would watch the other’s six.

The sound of the Nomu being launched from the building echoed across the building, making most stop fighting. Standing before Shigaraki and Kurogiri, they didn’t get a chance to attack, as the other teachers arrived in time to drive them away. All Might turned around, finding Izuku standing there, his body tensed, as if ready to fight.  
“Shounen?” He took a step, making the boy sink into a stance, eyes flicking everywhere.  
“Midoriya-shounen?” Those eyes looked afraid and hopped up on adrenaline. Before he could move closer, another voice called out to the student.  
“Izuku!” The greenette startled, before feeling familiar hands on his shoulders.  
“You aren’t back there. You’re here. In Musutafu. Whatever you’re seeing isn’t real.”  
“S...Sensei?” One Inui Ryo stood in front of him, before crouching lower.  
“Yes.” Green eyes seemed to return to normal, tears forming in them. He gripped the front of his counselor’s costume.  
“I...I was...so scared...I…”  
“It’s ok to be afraid, sometimes.” The boy couldn’t stop shivering, as the adrenaline faded and the pain in his shoulder, neck, and face replaced it. The exhaustion hit like a freight train and his eyes rolled up into his head. Hound Dog caught him and lifted him like a small child against his broader frame. He nodded to the other blonde and started carrying his charge out to the, waiting, ambulances.


	12. Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jesus christ i fucking died
> 
> I have a Discord server for my AO3 followers, so you can help me with my fics should need be.
> 
>  **Here's the link(I think you can copy and paste into a browser):** https://discord.gg/fbpruSP

Walking back into class on Monday was...odd. And uncomfortable. His arm was in a sling that kept his shoulder still, which he was lucky wasn’t his dominant hand. The bandages around his shoulders and neck crinkled, as he opened the door. He grimaced at the ache in his sprained ankle, but brushed it off. As he got to his seat, he let his head rest on his arm, the bandages wrapped around his head making themselves known.  
“Hey, Bro. How you feeling?” Izuku looked up and into the eyes of Kirishima.  
“Sore. Exhausted. You?”  
“Not much more than muscle soreness. You took a real beating. I’m surprised you’re not in a wheelchair.” Izuku gave a playfully haughty smile.  
“I guess I’m just that awesome.” They both laughed, until the greenette let out a groan and held his ribs.  
“I hate broken ribs. I think I’d rather break all four of my limbs, before I broke a rib.”  
“You’ve broken…”  
“Not at the same time, no, but pretty damn close. Sucked ass.” Kirishima looked a little nervous.  
“Hey...Bro?”  
“What’s wrong?”  
“When you were fighting that thing, you looked terrified and out of it...You looked like you were seeing something completely different and, somehow, more dangerous.” Izuku sighed and grimaced.  
“I...Have PTSD. Pretty...crippling PTSD, when it activates. It feeds off my survival instincts and reflexes. The time I was kidnapped, I…” He bit his lip.  
“I was forced to fight and kill to survive. Men three...four times my size would be pit against me. Should I have lost...I wouldn’t be telling you this, right now. I had no choice but to learn unorthodox ways of fighting...especially after I was saved by a man and his family, who were, also, on the run from the same people.” He got a look as if to ask why he was telling him this.  
“If I’m to be in this class, then I think having more than just Hound Dog-sensei knowing would be a good idea, in case my attacks worsen.” He got a nod, which was an incentive to keep talking.  
“The man found me and broke me out, having heard that these people had a… _new toy._ Him, his adopted daughter, brother, and sister-in-law took me in and taught me more about how to evade those people that took me. The man, himself,...became like a father to me and his sister-in-law became a second mother.” He pulled out the worn picture and unfolded it, showing the last picture they’d taken. The redhead’s eyes zeroed in on Joel. More specifically, his pack, where a shotgun, bow, and axe were attached.  
“What…”  
“We were on the run. That organization wanted to turn myself and the girl, who became like a sister to me, into living weapons that had no emotion for ourselves. We both have some kind of healing quirk that they wanted to harness and take advantage of. While, technically, she’s quirkless, she has some kind of dormant quirk that only shows up when she’s injured by a certain type of poison. It’s similar to the venom that’s in my saliva, but not quite the same. They wanted to use us for their own, nefarious, ideals. Ideals of soldiers and a universal venom vaccine. A vaccine that would be made with both of our deaths.” Eijirou’s eyes widened.  
“Woah...That’s...That’s terrifying!” Some of the others nodded, having overheard, including Aizawa, who came in through the door seconds ago. His head was wrapped and his arms were bound in bandages, but, besides that, the worst thing was the patch under his right eye.

He took a deep breath, alerting the class to his presence and making them shift into their seats.  
“I understand that this brush with the villain side of society is shaking, but, from what I saw, you all did well to take it in stride. Putting the incident behind us, we have something else to focus on. The Sports Festival. This is a time to show what you’re made of, but be sure to remember that this isn’t a time to make true enemies, for they will be your yearmates for three years and you don’t want to make enemies while here at school.” Everyone nodded and Bakugo looked away, as Aizawa’s eyes panned to him, when he’d said that last part.

When lunch came around, the greenette heard his name.  
“Izuku!” He whipped his head around, a grin splitting his face, as he was barreled into. A head of silver hair came into view, as he wrapped his arms around this girl’s back.  
“Ve! I haven’t seen you in like...three years?” She laughed.  
“It sucks I had to move...I missed you…” He heard a throat clear from in front of him and nodded to Uraraka, Iida, and Kirishima.  
“Guys, this is my friend, Vega Ursula.” She let him go and waved at them, with a little smile, as she fixed her headband. It was olive green and designed after a laurel chaplet, contrasting well against her olive toned skin, speckled with star shaped freckles, connected by faint lines. If one looked close enough, one would swear they could see Ursa Major on one cheek and Orion on the other. Uraraka smiled.  
“It’s nice to meet you! I’m Uraraka Ochako.”  
“Iida Tenya.”  
“Kirishima Eijiro.” She sat with them and they started talking.

“Are you in Heroics, Vega-san?” The silverette blushed faintly.  
“Please. Call me Ve or Sula. No, I’m in the Support class. I’m quite...frail, so Heroics isn’t the best course for me.” Kirishima grinned.  
“May I ask about your quirk, Ve-san? I can harden my body.” She smiled and nodded.  
“I can summon beings based around constellations. Like Orion and Leo. Most of them aren’t violent by nature, but they’ll fight.” Izuku perked up.  
“Oh! I have a couple quirks, Ve! I can make wormholes and I have a poison filter quirk. I also have a mutation that makes my bite venomous and my body enhances.” She looked startled.  
“When-”  
“I...uh...went missing for a month a few years back. It activated cause I fell into the path of a bullet train.” She stared at him in awe, before clearing her throat and taking a sip of her drink, not knowing what to say. They continued chatting, before the bell rang and they split to go to their classes, Izuku trading numbers with Ursula.

When they reached the classroom, All Might passed out some worksheets, before taking a deep breath.  
“Midoriya-shounen? May I speak to you outside?” The greenette nodded and walked out of the room, before the hero followed him.  
“Is something wrong?”  
“...The way you reacted during the USJ...It was like you were a...a wild animal…” He wasn’t able to finish, seeing the weary expression in his student’s face.  
“I have PTSD and...it’s pretty bad. You weren’t there when I told my class the story. When I disappeared a few years ago...I was captured by people that made me fight to _kill._ If I didn’t kill my opponents, I wouldn’t be here, right now. I fought people three times my size...and killed them. I was only able to get out, because a man and his family saved me. We were on the run and both myself and the adopted daughter of the man that saved me were the most in danger. The organization that built me into the fighter I am, now, were on our asses and she and I were main targets. Despite her being, technically, quirkless, she had a latent ability that keeps her from being affected by certain toxins, like me. We were being hunted. They wanted to make a universal vaccine for all poisons and venoms. But that would only have bore fruit if the both of us died. They wanted to use us for a vaccine that they weren’t even close to 100% sure would work at all. We ran and we hid and ran and hid and _fought._ I’m really twitchy around people over six and a half feet tall and certain sounds trigger memories.” All Might stared into green eyes that were more fit to be on a war vetran than on a fifteen year old. This teenager had seen horrors no one should have to. The haunted look in his eyes, make the blonde believe that the greenette would have found Hell to be a daycare in comparison to the time he spent in America. Crouching down, so he wasn’t looming over his student, he gave a gentle smile. It was a huge change to the grin he usually wore. He didn’t put his hand on the teenager’s shoulder, no matter how much he wanted to.  
“You’re safe here...Well...As safe as you can get being a Heroics student.” Izuku chuckled.  
“I know...Doesn’t lessen the fact that PTSD sucks ass.” That made the blonde bark a quiet laugh.  
“That it doesn’t…”


	13. A Taste of Suffering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sdgsdkjdghkdjfghljHIUHJHKJGJGSFJKHGHJG 
> 
> I'm so fucking sorry! I got dragged into my other fics and forgot about this one!

He found himself in Hound Dog’s office, as per the hero’s request. Izuku was still bandaged up, as he sat across from the man. His stare was of the thousand yard variety and it made the wheat blonde a bit worried.  
“Izuku.” His calm voice, coupled with his name, snapped the student out of his trance.  
“Ah. Sorry. Were you trying to talk to me?”  
“I was about to start. You were staring into space, like you were remembering something painful.” He took a deep breath, his eyes falling closed for a moment.  
“I was.” Not saying anything about it, further, the counselor turned their attentions to what he’d asked him here for.   
“I asked you to come, because I wanted to know why your attack was so intense, during the attack. You told me that people over a certain height give you attacks. That I know. But, you’re around All Might on a daily basis.”  
“I have to keep telling myself that All Might is a hero. He’s not trying to hurt me or the people I hold dear.”  
“What about during the USJ?” The greenette pinched between his eyes. He looked exhausted.  
“My attack was still going, so I wasn’t able to tell myself he meant no harm.” Ryo sighed a little, hating to need to ask this.  
“Izuku...You looked like you were seeing something truly terrifying...Something...not human.” The teenager fidgeted, scratching at his neck a moment, before pulling a small container from his pocket and popping some kind of gum. The man’s sense of smell went off at a certain scent.  
“Is...Is that nicotine gum?” Izuku stopped chewing for a moment, before sighing.  
“Oh...uh...yeah.”

Hound Dog tipped his head a little.  
“Why would you need it?” Green eyes didn’t quite meet the man’s.  
“I...have a smoking problem…”  
“You’re fifteen.”  
“Yeah? I started when I was thirteen. Uh...When I was in America.”   
“There’s something else.” The teenager saw him sniff the air, before he sighed.  
“I had an alcohol problem, when I was there, too. They cut the edge and I couldn’t get drunk or poisoning, cause of my filter quirk.” He got a look from the counselor and sighed again, pulling the picture from his pocket.  
“There’s...more. I know you have your code, but...please keep this next thing to yourself...and...and don’t look at me like I’ve lost my mind...please.” There was a pain in the boy’s face that made something pang in the hero’s chest.  
“I promise.” The greenette put the photo down on the desk.  
“Those people didn’t save me from an organization that made me fight. My mom and I made that up. We didn’t want to say the truth. We would have been thrown in the fucking loony bin. The day I disappeared, I wormholed myself into another dimension and in the past. It was a past where humanity went down the shitter in 2013. I fell through the wall of an abandoned hospital, in 2033. Twenty years after this… _apocalypse_ started to mow through the population of the Earth.” He took a moment to breathe, as Hound Dog stared with curiosity.

He dove back into his memories again, hoping to all hell the man believed him.  
“I had to ditch my uniform and my backpack and cover my hair. I knew I was in the states, since everything was in English and it was hot as balls out. I was in a clothing store and had to, literally, kill to survive. A man, that had gone psycho, tried to kill me.” He pulled part of his collar away, showing a faint scar across his upper trapezius.  
“I had no choice but to kill him. When I got out of the shop, I met him…” He pointed to Joel, in the picture.  
“He tried to tell me he meant no harm and I knew he was telling the truth. He looked like he knew all the weapons on his back were telling a different story. He lead me to a grocery store, where I was able to stock up on supplies. Back in the front, he and I were attacked and I told him to go, while I was holding them off. That was when I was bit…”  
“By what?” He stood up and pulled up the side of his uniform top, showing the teeth marks and dead infection that marred the side of his abs.  
“Those...Those look human…”   
“They are...kinda. A mutated form of cordyceps were passed from chimps to humans and...well...the fucking zombie apocalypse started, in a nutshell. I mean...They’re called infected and have three stages. I was bit by the second stage, called clickers. In order, they start at runners, which are like zombies but fast as fuck. Clickers are next and are blind and got the name, cause they use echolocation. The third stage...They’re called b-...bloaters. They’ve been infected a long ass time and have swollen with spore gas, which it can launch. They’re fucking strong and dangerous. Not only humans are susceptible to the virus...animals are, as well. I had to stab a shiv through the eye of a moose that got out of a zoo. I was bit by a clicker, but...I never turned. It was due to the filtration quirk that’s on, constantly. It’s...the reason I wear a mask. Though it kept me from turning, I still carry the infectant in my saliva and blood. If I bite someone or thing, they start turning long before they normally would.” His eyes looked haunted, as he stared into his lap.  
“I...have only bitten three people...one purposefully.”   
“Purposefully?”  
“They were gonna eat us…” 

Hound Dog started, his brows shooting into his hairline.  
“Wh-” Izuku brushed his finger over the image again, but circling around Ellie’s face.  
“Ellie and I were stuck in a forest, hunting, so that we could bring back food. Joel was healing from an impalation wound.” The hero flinched, but let the teen continue.  
“We got a deer, but...two guys came around, telling us that they were from a large group that was filled with starving people. We organized a trade. The deer for some penicillin. We went inside, while the other guy went to get the medicine. The guy that stayed...David...gave me a bad feeling, so we fell into using our codenames for each other. Fletching, for her, and Notch, for me. When a swarm was taken care of, he told us that he’d heard from his men that that there was a madman slaughtering them...and that he was running around with a little boy and girl. We were, instantly, on our feet, when his friend, James, returned. David told him to let us go. It...wasn’t until morning that we found out he followed us.” He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair, being careful of the bandages.   
“Our horse was killed and we were sent on the run. It wasn’t long after that we were knocked out. Ellie by suffocation and me by a blow to the head. We were stuck in a cell where...we found out they were cannibals.” He saw the hero jolt, but continued.  
“Ellie broke his finger and I broke his wrist. About a day later, he and James dragged us onto the chopping block, after both of us bit them. Ellie’s immune to the virus, like me, but she can’t transmit. We used our bite marks as a distraction to keep them busy long enough to get out of there. I also used James as a distraction, as he started to turn. We had to get through a shit ton of David’s men, before he cornered us in a rundown diner. It ended with Ellie wailing on him with his own machete and me getting a nasty concussion that lasted for like...three months. Joel found us, even though he was injured really bad.” The large hand that settled on his shoulder was light. Izuku kept his own on the photo, still looking at Ellie.  
“We were knocked out again, about two and a half months later, but by The Fireflies...this...group that was trying to fucking play god. They wanted to find a cure for the cordyceps virus and thought they had...in Ellie. The infection grows all over the brain. They were prepared to kill her for a vaccine they weren’t even sure would begin to work. They tried to get Joel and me to leave, but...That was when the outbreak started…”

Hound Dog was calm, as he waited for the student to continue.  
“When we were unconscious, they weren’t careful transporting us and...I ended up biting one of them. Half the damn compound was swarmed in less than three hours. We were able to get to Ellie and get the fuck out of dodge. A few days later, we made it back to Jackson, Wyoming, where Joel’s brother, Tommy and Maria, Tommy’s wife, took us in.” He brushed his fingers over said adults, as he spoke about them. Ryo could see the pain and longing in those jaded, emerald, orbs.  
“You miss them…”  
“I do...They’re the big reason I almost didn’t come back. They’re my family...Joel became like my father and Maria started to feel like a second mother...Tommy was an uncle and...Ellie was like my older sister.”  
“Older?”  
“A few months. I’m terrified to try to bring them to this timeline. I’m not sure if people can go through them, without...disintegrating.”  
“I see...So...The bloaters are the reason you had your attack, a few days ago?”  
“Yes. The Nomu was about the same height and broadness...My adrenaline shot through the roof and I couldn’t stop my instincts from taking over.” The hero nodded again.  
“Do you think you can handle the Sports Festival? I mean...There’s gonna be a lot of people and noise.” Izuku gave a faint smile.  
“I think I can. If I don’t push myself, I’ll never get anywhere. I might have a bit of anxiety, but I think I’ll be fine.” Hound Dog smiled, just being seen past the side of his muzzle.  
“Another step towards becoming a hero.”


End file.
